Cycle of prayer: Feb 13

Psalm 1
The Difference Between Good And Sinful People
1 Happy is the man who does not walk in the way sinful men tell him to, or stand in the path of sinners, or sit with those who laugh at the truth.
2 But he finds joy in the Law of the Lord and thinks about His Law day and night.
3 This man is like a tree planted by rivers of water, which gives its fruit at the right time and its leaf never dries up. Whatever he does will work out well for him.

4 Sinful men are not like this. They are like straw blown away by the wind.
5 So the sinful will not stand. They will be told they are guilty and have to suffer for it. Sinners will not stand with those who are right with God.
6 For the Lord knows the way of those who are right with Him. But the way of the sinful will be lost from God forever.

From the Revised Common Lectionary

It’s always amazing and cool to me how 1 thing in a verse can stand out. This psalm is definitely used a lot to talk about sinners and not hanging with sinners and how dangerous it is to be a sinner. When I was in youth group, we all memorized this Psalm and verse 1 was always cited to teach us not to hang out with “sinners”. Sort of that “love ‘em from a distance” mentality as it related to non Christians. Looking back, I appreciate the sentiment but I can’t get around the truth - they were wrong.

Ok, so now that’s out of the way. The verse that really struck me this morning was the first part of v. 6

For the Lord knows the way of those who are right with Him.

Who? The Lord. Not me. So what help is it for me to bother standing in judgment over others’ righteousness? Because the Lord knows already and I figure he’s got it under control much better than I do. Other versions of that verse say that the Lord watches over the path of the righteous. Either way, I find it enormously comforting that I’m not responsible. hehe

This morning’s prayer from the divine hours

The Greeting

Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty,* God reveals himself in glory. Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause;* for God himself is judge.

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